Love and Redemption: Angel Style
by extraordinary geek
Summary: Castiel gets a second chance. How will this all work out? With some heavenly intervention and long lost faces he might just overcome his mistakes and learn that family can help. Set after 7x17.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:** Set after season six so it will contain spoilers.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own the characters from Supernatural or the first two quotes which are directly from episode 6x22

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><p>"Well you always have little old me."<p>

"Yes I'll always have you."

Looking down Balthazar saw the edge of an angel blade sticking out of his chest. The only thing he could feel was a painful burning sensation in his chest. There were no words that could describe the intense amount of pain that he was feeling. All too soon he felt the blackness overcome him and he was no more.

"Oh man what are you doing here?"

"Ugh" Overhead somewhere Balthazar was aware of a voice he hadn't heard in a while and he could not say he missed, okay maybe just a bit.

"Gabriel?"

"The one and only, well cut that there are more Gabriels just none this insanely awesome. I mean seriously I'm the first Gabriel the _first_ I should get myself a medal saying I'm number one."

Balthazar ignored his rant. "Where are we?"

"What no hiya Gabe how've ya been long time no see?" Gabriel asked in mock indignation. "Seriously I'd think you'd be happy to see me."

"Oh I'm happy to see you Gabe but seriously where are we?" Balthazar looked around his surroundings with a disinterested look.

Gabriel shrugged. "Don't know some kind of limbo."

"Limbo?" Balthazar asked incredulously. "You're kidding that doesn't exist."

"Believe what you want." Gabriel stated sucking on a lollipop. The guy was giving him a head ache with the constant yelling that limbo didn't exist, sheesh. He really didn't care if Balthazar thought they were in limbo or not. It's not like it made a difference anyways.

"So how'd you end up here?"

"What?" Gabriel's question caught Balthazar off guard as he stopped his mini rant.

Gabriel rolled his eyes. "How did you end up here? Who killed you?" He clarified.

"Cas" he stated in an angry tone still in shock over what had transpired just a while ago.

"What?" This time Gabriel parroted Balthazar's earlier question as the lollipop fell out of his mouth in shock.

"Castiel?" He asked hoping Balthazar meant someone else. It could be another angel called Cas or maybe he heard wrong and Balthazar had said gas.

Balthazar angrily nodded. "Stabbed me in the back, the arsehole."

The archangel could hardly believe what he was hearing. "Are you sure we're talking about the same Castiel who was scouring the universe looking for dad?" he asked.

"The exact same"

Gabriel shook his head denying what the younger angel was telling him. What had happened to cause Castiel the angel with so much faith in their father, to kill his brother? Before he'd gone on his expedition to kill Lucifer or at least try, he'd instructed Balthazar to take care of Castiel.

"What happened Balthy?" Gabriel asked using the nickname the younger angel hadn't heard in such a long time.

Balthazar sighed. "I don't know Gabriel, I don't know"

_2 years ago_

"_Balthazar I'm home!" _

_Balthazar stayed hidden invisibly as he heard and saw Gabriel enter his current hideout in all his annoyingly loud glory. _

"_Fine you can ignore me." Gabriel pouted. "Just remember I can actually see you." _

_Balthazar groaned, he had faked his death and left heaven just to get caught by another deserter. Resigned and a bit annoyed he once again became visible._

"_Ha I knew it; no one can trick the trickster." Balthazar could hear the smirk in Gabriel's voice._

"_Why are you here Gabriel?" _

_Gabriel let out a laugh. "Did you really think I wouldn't find you?" He asked. Balthazar shook his head whether in exasperation or answer was unclear. _

"_What do you want Gabriel?" He asked. "Believe it or not I am a very busy person and will have to find a place to go now that you found me. Stupid archangel all of heaven is going to come here soon." _

_Gabriel mock pouted. "Aww Balthy I'm not feeling the love here." he stated hearing something that sounded suspiciously like _no love to feel moron _then added. "Did you really think I wouldn't cover my tracks, how do you think I kept hidden all this time."_

_Balthazar rolled his eyes. "Of course" _

"_Anyways I didn't come out of hiding just to put you on the heavenly radar. Psh" He waved a hand. "I'll leave that to people like Mikey or Zachariah" At the names Gabriel stiffened losing the trickster persona he stated in an uncharacteristically serious voice. "I'm here to talk about Castiel" _

_To say Balthazar was confused would be an understatement. He felt entirely out of the loop. "What?" Last time he'd seen Castiel, had been in heaven when the younger angel was fighting in battle. He had felt kind of bad about leaving and not saying anything, but he knew that if he told Castiel the younger angel would automatically report him. It wasn't that he was a snitch but he followed heaven's orders like an obedient puppy. Never straying from what were his superiors' orders. _

_What could Gabriel possible want with Castiel?_

_Gabriel looked at him with a serious expression akin to worry. "Castiel or Cas as they call him is stuck with the Winchesters. He is going against both sides he's fighting for humanity." At this he heard Balthazar's gasp. _

_Balthazar was well aware that Michael and the rest of his brothers didn't care much for humans and would be very irritated to say the least that their most obedient angel had rebelled. Just what was Castiel doing with the Winchesters anyways? _

_Gabriel sighed. "The poor kid is doing what he thinks is right and on top of that he is looking for dad." _

_Balthazar ran a hand over his face, yup that sounded like Castiel all right. He always did have a great amount of faith even when the rest of them didn't. "What do you want me to do Gabriel?" he asked. "I'm happy here with no superiors and their orders. I have no intentions of returning to heaven." _

_Gabriel nodded. "You don't have to. Just…just keep an eye on him will you Balthazar? Just make sure he doesn't get in over his head please." He practically pleaded. _

"_Gabriel don't worry" Balthazar reassured him. "I'll take care of Cas I promise" _

_Gabriel nodded relieved. With the risky position Castiel was taking he would need all the help and protection he could get. Unfortunately he might not have a chance to make sure the kid got out of it okay._

_Seeing Gabriel's face flood with relief Balthazar gave a frown. Just what was going on? Before he could voice his question however Gabriel spoke up. _

"_Thank you"_

_Balthazar shrugged. "I'm not heartless Gabriel. Cas is my younger brother and I'll take care of him I promise." _

Present Day

What had gone wrong? Balthazar wondered. What had turned Cas to the dark side so to speak? Balthazar might be angry with Castiel but he couldn't help but feel like he might have failed his younger brother.

What went wrong?

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><p>ps: please review and tell me what you think. Next chapter Cas comes in :)<p> 


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: **Contains spoilers for 7x17 so if you didn't see you might not want to read.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own the wonderful show known as Supernatural or the characters within.

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><p>A year later<p>

"Gabriel that's not fair"  
>"Why not?"<br>"Because you can't cheat" Balthazar answered like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Well I did so I think that I can"

"Gabriel if you do that one more time so help me dad I'm going to…" He never got to finish however as he felt the world twist and turn before him before both he and Gabriel were deposited on the floor with a _thunk_.

"Balthazar"

"What?" Balthazar asked annoyed, he was trying to fix his clothes that were now rumpled. That hadn't been the most graceful fall after all.

"I don't think we're in limbo anymore Balthy" Gabriel stated seeing they were in a room with the occupant in the bed a few feet away.

Balthazar just shrugged him off. "Thank you for the information Gabriel that was rather astute of you." He retorted. "Where are we anyways?"

"I dunno let's check"

Both angels gasped.

In a bloody, crumpled heap on the bed lay Castiel in what seemed to be unconsciousness. Both brothers quickly went over to see their fallen brother. Upon closer inspection they saw that their younger brother held a dazed look on his face as if he were seeing something past them.

"Cas, Cas, Cassie?"

Both angels watched as Castiel did not respond and continued staring past them. His eyes void of emotion and lifeless.

"Gabriel?" Balthazar really hoped that it was one of Gabriel's tricks.

Gabriel just shook his head as he cradled his youngest brother in his arms. The stark white uniform of mental patients worn by Castiel contrasting against Gabriel's own amber brown wings.

No matter what Balthazar had told him he still couldn't compare his youngest brother to the cold hearted killer that Balthazar had described. Seeing him now he couldn't help but feel a strong sense of sorrow and overprotectiveness as he held his brother's limp body. He could only hope that Balthazar wouldn't hold any ill intent towards Castiel for the meantime.

Said angel stared in shock. There in Gabriel's arms lay the angel who had murdered him and caused him to spend the rest of his eternity here. Castiel, the angel _no the brother, _who had stabbed him in the back was now lying there in front of him vulnerable and weak.

"Balthazar"

"What?" Balthazar was in a daze as the shock was clearly written on his face.

Gabriel picked up their younger brother gently. "Are you okay?" He asked as he placed his brother back in the bed.

This seemed to break him out of his daze as Balthazar snorted. "I'm not the one who is locked up in a mental asylum looking like a character from one flew over the cuckoo's nest."

Gabriel winced at Balthazar's harsh words that held much truth. But, at the moment he had more pressing matters to tend to than Balthazar's sarcasm. Waving a hand over his younger brother Gabriel tried healing him. The cuts and bruises healed but Gabriel noticed with a frown that Castiel still appeared to be injured or ill. He tried again but the dazed look stayed. Once Castiel was comfortable Gabriel turned his attention back to his other younger brother.

"Can I trust that you aren't going to hurt him Balth?"

Balthazar sighed as he ran a hand through his hair. "I'm not cruel Gabriel I'm not going to kick him while he's down."

Gabriel nodded his approval at the not quite promise.

Balthazar rolled his eyes. Did Gabriel really think that he would hurt Cas? Although he might not be showing it, Balthazar was very distraught. Seeing Castiel like this was just heartbreaking. It seemed like there was no one home in Cassie's head. The thing that frightened him the most was the lifeless look on Castiel's face and the fact that Gabriel who was an archangel couldn't fix him.

Just what was wrong with Cas?

"Why hello boys, I definitely wasn't expecting to see you here."

Balthazar turned around. "What do you want?" he growled angel blade in hand. Gabriel followed suit poised for an attack if needed.

The demon in the nurse's outfit just chuckled. "Now, now boys; that's quite rude don't you think." She cocked an eyebrow at them. "Name's Meg darling what's yours"

"None of your bloody business demon" Balthazar spat out.

Meg tskd. "And here I was hoping we could get to at least first name business."

"Sorry but we don't play with demons." Gabriel told her firmly. "Especially those working with the king of hell."

Meg just gave a sigh. "Pity, because Clarence over there seemed to have no problem with it."

"We're not him" Balthazar told her. "We don't make deals with demons."

"Oh I wasn't referring to that dick of hell" She gave them a small seductive smile. "I have to say boys I wasn't aware that angels could get so sexy and edible." She finished with a smack to her lips leaving no doubt as to what she was talking about.

"Get out" Gabriel stated in a cold voice. "You have three seconds to get out of my sight before I smite your sorry ass out of existence."

With a saunter Meg turned around and left. At the door she called out. "It doesn't matter what you do, you can't fix him."

Gabriel let forth a bit of his grace and watched with satisfaction as the she-demon burned to a fry crisp. He wouldn't accept that for an answer, he wouldn't.

Going over to the bed he carefully picked up his younger brother. "Come on Balthazar, let's go"

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><p>Read and Review :)<p>

**Sidenote:** I loved episode 7x17 it was epic and just what I expected. Of course the ending with Cas was so sad and I thought oh no Cassy! But lets see what the producers have planned.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N:** Thank you to all who took the time to read and follow or favorite the story. I hope that you all like this next chapter :D

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Supernatural or the character within. If you recognize them, then sadly they aren't mine.

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><p>Arriving at their destination Gabriel quickly conjured a bed and gently placed Castiel on it and covered him up with a comforter. He knew it wasn't necessary but it made him feel better. Once that was done he turned around and saw Balthazar staring at him with a contemplative look.<p>

"Need something?"

"Huh, oh no I was just thinking." Balthazar answered broken from his thoughts.

Gabriel rolled his eyes. "Don't hurt yourself there Balthy"

That seemed to be the wrong thing to say as Balthazar suddenly tore into him. "Don't you care? Seriously Gabriel just look at him." He pointed at the bed. "Castiel is lying there brain-dead and you're just standing there making jokes!"

Gabriel frowned. "First off I most definitely care, I am trying to relieve the tension; standing here full of doom and gloom is not going to help anyone. And secondly Castiel is _not_ brain-dead." He gave Balthazar a glare.

Balthazar deflated. He knew that Gabriel's way of dealing with stress was humor, just like he himself used sarcasm. He really didn't mean to imply that Gabriel didn't care about Cas because he knew that wasn't true. Not by a long shot.

"I'm sorry Gabriel"

Gabriel just waved a hand. "It's fine" As an afterthought he added. "Although you could make it up to me if you got me some of the world's finest chocolate."

Balthazar just barked out a laugh. Both angels though, could feel that it was forced.

A few hours later found both angels in a comfortable silence. Well it would have been comfortable if it hadn't been so stiffening.

Just as Gabriel was about to suggest something both angels heard a whimper. Rushing over to the bed Gabriel could see his youngest brother rolling on the sheets with his hands fisted on the pillow.

"No…no I don't want to"

Gabriel sat down on the bed beside his brother and ran a hand through his hair. "Shh Cassie it's okay"

Hearing Gabriel's voice Castiel sluggishly opened his eyes. "Gabriel" he murmured sleepily.

Gabriel nodded his head and ran his fingers through his brother's dark locks. "Yah it's me, shh go to sleep kiddo."

Castiel seemed to snuggle closer before the words hit him and registered in his mind. Suddenly he sat up and stared at Gabriel with a confused look. "Gabriel?"

_It couldn't be, _he reasoned_. _Yet looking up into the sad honey brown eyes of his older brother he could see that he was right there in front of him. _No, it's a trick from Lucifer_. But Cas really wanted it to be his older brother.

"What no hello for me, I'm not really feeling the love here Cassie"

Hearing that voice Cas stiffened and slowly turned his head, staring past Gabriel's shoulder with a look of pure terror.

"N-no, no Balthazar I'm s-sorry" Castiel cried out. "I'm _soo_ sorry" That action alone worried Gabriel more than anything. Cas had not shown much emotion after his training period in heaven, not since he had been a fledgling. Balthazar seemed to have the same thought because he looked at Gabriel with a panicked look on his face.

"Cassie, it's okay" he walked over to him. "I get it" As he reached out to pat Cas' arm Cas shrieked. "Don't touch me, please don't hurt me" This time it was Balthazar's turn to stare at him with a horrified and slightly hurt look on his face. "What?" he asked shocked. "I would never hurt you Cassie"

Castiel didn't say anything and just let out an anguished sob. He was being punished he thought, as he saw the faces of his dead brothers. This was another way to further torment him and it seemed to be working. He really wished they were real, but he knew it wasn't true.

_Lucifer slowly got up and made his way towards him. "Why you're their sweet little murdering baby brother Cassie, of course they love you. Who wouldn't love their little psychopath of a brother?" _

No! Lucifer was right his brothers would never come and act kindly to him after all he had done. They would look at him in anger and disgust. They would definitely not look at him in concern. And Balthazar…oh Balthazar

Balthazar would definitely never tell him that it was okay.

"_Of course he wouldn't. I mean who would tell their murderer that it's okay" Lucifer taunted. "I can't believe you are so naïve Castiel." he laughed walking away from the distraught angel before sitting on the floor. _

Castiel focused his attention on the devil in the corner as he panicked. Oh how he wished it were true that Gabriel and Balthazar were really there so that they could offer him comfort. It had been a long time since he had wanted or even needed comfort, but right now he would gladly take it.

"Gabriel?" There was no harm in calling for his dead brother anyways. The doctors already thought of him as crazy.

"I'm here Castiel" Gabriel replied cautiously. He was worried that he might set off another episode like earlier. Thankfully, he noticed his brother did not seem to panic at the sight of him. He seemed slightly sluggish but nothing else. Taking this as a good sign he slowly made his way over to his brother.

"Hey there kiddo, how are you feeling?"

The angel in question tilted his head to one side. "I do not feel good Gabriel. I think I feel sick."

Gabriel felt like laughing. Not because what his brother had said was funny, in fact it was absolutely not funny. He felt like laughing hysterically because here was his brother, his innocent baby brother telling him he felt sick. It was almost like the old days long before the war when his baby brother fell sick and it was up to him to take care of the little fledgling. Now though, the situation was similar yet so different.

His once innocent baby brother was no longer a baby or innocent. He had committed one of the greatest crimes that could ever be made. He was not even talking about the whole 'I am God' spiel but what he had done to his own brother. Even now Gabriel could not believe what Balthazar had told him. His brother had been sick; it hadn't been his own conscious decision. Because Cassie would never do something like that, would he?

"Gabriel are you okay?"

No Gabriel thought I'm not okay. Still he turned to his little brother and gave him a small smile. "Sure, never better"

"_Liar, he can't stand the sight of you. He can't even bring himself to look at you because of how disgusted he is" _

Castiel gazed at his brother intently. He seemed so real. Tentatively he reached out a hand and poked him.

"I told you I was here"

Castiel gazed beyond his brother. Lucifer was calmly sitting cross-legged on the floor behind Gabriel. For once he didn't say anything. He just sat there watching his younger brothers with a bored look on his face.

"Cassie, are you there?" Gabriel asked concerned that his brother was going off on him again.

"I'm fine Gabriel" Castiel told him keeping an eye on the sitting devil. "What are you doing here?"

"Why I am hurt" Gabriel exclaimed. "To think that you don't even want me here after all the trouble I went through."

Castiel just stared at him uncomprehendingly. "You're supposed to be dead." he told him. "You can't be here."

Gabriel grit his teeth and then remembered how fragile his brother was and stopped. It didn't seem to matter as his brother didn't notice it anyways. "Well whether I can or can't be here, I'm here so deal with it." He wanted to shake some sense into his brother.

"_He was always rather annoying wasn't he?" Lucifer shook his head. "Pity I can't get rid of him"_

Castiel silently nodded; his brother did grate on his nerves at the best of times. Immediately he stopped, Lucifer had not done anything about his brother. He couldn't get rid of him. He let out a breath relieved that this meant that his brother was real.

His brother was really here!

Balthazar stood a few feet away from his brothers silently watching the exchange. It seemed that while Castiel was talking to Gabriel, he appeared to be staring at a point beyond the archangel. In fact, Castiel seemed to be looking at the floor behind him.

Balthazar narrowed his eyes as he saw his younger brother look down at the ground and nod. His suspicion turned to concern when he saw his brother suddenly stop and turn sharply to look at Gabriel. His concern faded when he saw Castiel look at Gabriel with a clear look in his eyes. He seemed to be looking at him for the first time since he had woken up.

Castiel immediately sat up and looked at Gabriel. Electric blue met warm amber. He couldn't believe his eyes and launched himself towards his brother.

To say Gabriel was surprised would be an understatement. He was astounded and flabbergasted. As Castiel threw himself at him he immediately put his arms around his younger brother. Many would argue that angels were incapable of showing strong emotions, but Gabriel felt tears run down his cheeks as he gently rocked his brother back and forth. He could feel the tremors that ran through his brother as he quietly sobbed into Gabriel's shirt. Castiel kept his tight embrace on his brother, worried that if he let him go he would be gone from him forever.

"I missed you Gabriel"

"Me too Cassie, me too" Gabriel gave his younger brother's shoulder a clench before turning and giving his other brother a look. Balthazar shrugged. He didn't think that going up to Castiel was the best thing to do at the moment. Last time he'd triggered a panic attack and he didn't have the heart to break up his brothers' reunion.

Castiel found himself slowly regaining control of his emotions and looked back up at his brother. He knew that if Dean were there he would say something about the creepy stare, but as long as he kept his gaze on Gabriel he didn't have to worry about Lucifer.

For the first time since Sam and Dean had left him at the mental hospital Castiel found himself at peace. Well at close to peace as he could get. He was so focused on Gabriel that he didn't notice Balthazar examining the area he had been staring at earlier. He could just make out Gabriel telling him something when he felt the edges of his vision blacken and he fell into a peaceful sleep.

"Sleep tight bro" Gabriel pressed a finger to his younger brother's forehead and watched him slump down to sleep. He was placing him back on the bed when he heard his brother call out.

"Gabriel?"

"Hmm" Gabriel's attention was on his younger brother's limp form.

"I think Castiel is seeing something or someone that we can't see."

That got his attention. Gabriel turned to look at Balthazar. The younger angel was staring intently at one corner of the room. Curious Gabriel walked over to see what he was talking about. While currently there was nothing there, he could sense that some sort of presence had been there and recently.

With narrowed eyes Gabriel brought his gaze back to his brother. "Someone was here. Did you see who?"

Balthazar shook his head. "Are you sure?" he asked. "I was here the whole time and didn't see anything.

Gabriel nodded. "I'm sure. Someone or something was here and made sure we wouldn't be able to see it." He turned a concerned glance towards Castiel. "And I bet that Castiel knows who it is"


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